The Mail & Guardian,
a South Africa newspaper has reported that South Africa has begun the process
of returning the $15m that was confiscated last year. And also work out moves to reopen the sales
of arms to Nigeria. According to them, this
strategic move is to start on a clean slate with the recently elected president,
Muhammadu Buhari.
South African law
enforcement agencies last year seized $15-million in two batches: $5.7-million
that had been wired to Standard Bank and $9.3-million in cash.
It was brought
into the country through Lanseria airport in Johannesburg in three suitcases by
a delegation said to represent the Nigerian government. In both cases, the money was suspected to be
for illegal use.
Now South Africa
wants to use the money to extend an olive branch to Buhari’s government and
mend relations between the two countries, which became strained during the
tenure of outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan. “
Efforts are also
being made by South Africa to ensure that the process of returning the money or
regularizing the sale of arms looks as clean as possible.
According to an
official of the South African government, ‘Yes, a law has been broken, but it’s
true that the government [of Nigeria] is the owner of that money and genuinely
wanted to buy arms legally.
They might have
flouted the rules, but it’s a genuine transaction.’ This money does not come
from dirty hands or rebels or arms dealers,” the source said. “We will find a
way to regularise the transaction and either return the money or give them
arms.”
Nigeria wanted to
buy arms such as helicopters and ammunition to strengthen its fight against
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.
Last year, the
M&G reported that the head of the national conventional arms control
committee, Jeff Radebe, who is also the minister in the presidency, was blamed
by his colleagues in government for taking a unilateral decision to try to
regularise the sale of arms to Nigeria to facilitate the release of bodies of
South Africans who were killed when the TB Joshua church building collapsed in
Nigeria.
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